A Future and a Past to Remember
by G. Sun
Summary: Mizuki and Grey confront the enraged Don, who seems to be missing something important. Why does he resemble a Heartless? The end to the future saga is here and a new truth is revealed to Mizuki. Read after STUCK IN THE FUTURE
1. Chapter 1

**And now we figure out how our teen drama queen is going to get out of this mess.**

"Mizuki make a break for it!" commands Grey worriedly while trying to wrestle with fifteen year old Don. Don easily kicks Grey off and he bangs against the wall. I hurry towards Grey but Don steps in between us-wait a minute, what happened to his eyes?

"Aren't your eyes red?" I ask in order to distract him but his intense glare fixates on me. His eyes are glowing yellow, how did that happen? A trail of yellow mist leaves his eyes with every movement he makes, he almost looks like a Heartless. He disregards my comment and stomps towards me menacingly.

"I have no attachment to Mia anymore which means I don't have to go easy on you," says Don threateningly, although it's hard to find him that intimidating when he's younger. He's fifteen years old but in the past he's eighteen-did he and his future self switch places? Can people actually do that? "Bring back my memories now."

"You lost your memory?"

"Don't play dumb with me, I was there when Mia told you and she told me you can take people back in time. This world is ending," his voice changes to a deep pitch suddenly. "and you're a part of this world. Now give me back my memories!"

"Mia's obviously mistaken because I can't do any of that," I chuckle lightly while raising my hands in surrender. Something warm is on my lips but I'll check that later. "Sorry, can't help you." In the middle of his gesture his arms stops and his hateful expression doesn't change; the Heartless have stopped marching and I no longer hear the gunfire down the block. I don't know how long I can do this but I have to get me and Grey away from here, this was obviously a mistake.

I run to Grey, who's frozen slumped against the brick wall, and pick him up. "He's so light," I comment. It could be because of time and space blah, blah, blah, weight and matter and stuff don't matter when time is frozen. Running as fast I as I can, which really isn't that fast, I make it up to the next street but that's when I hear Don's rushing footsteps behind me and I'm sure he can catch me in a second. Grey suddenly becomes heavy and he slips from my arms then gapes at me.

"What're you doing? How are you over-?"

"Oh shut up, I'll explain later." I turn to Don who's almost up to us. Shit, guess there's no other choice but to fight him. When I face the superhuman Don, a strong girl's voice stops him in his tracks. "Don!" the younger Don turns towards a Mia of the same age far behind him and is distracted by her. His eerie eyes are toned down as he looks away from us. Thank God for your future badassness Mia 'cause in the present I don't see you doing that. Damn, she's willing to stand up to Don of all people, all right! I pull Grey up and together we leave the scene of the chaos and to a Heartless free setting. To get to one of the other streets, Grey and I jump over a gap and hurry along, avoiding most of the Heartless. Once we find a safe street to relax, we catch our breaths.

"I was the ground and then I was in your arms? What did you do, I thought that guy was going to kill us both right then and there," states Grey fervently, but I can understand him even while I'm sweating like a waterfall.

"I stopped…time, I do…that sometimes," I reply in between pants. "Why…didn't-you kick his ass?"

"He surprised me. You're bleeding by the way." We stop by the beach where I woke up after falling off the cruise ship. Everything weird that's ever happened to me started when I woke up on that beach. I sit on the ledge to catch my breath while Grey leans on it while looking towards the ocean; I use my shirt to wipe the blood off before it dries, still warm 'cuz I stopped time. Wow I'm really get the hang of this, I'm starting to feel stronger every day. "Are we gonna make it back?" Grey asks seriously.

"Duh."

"How are you doing that?"

"What?"

"Being so optimistic, it's a little nauseating if you ask me. You're like Ms. Optimistic, it's scary." I laugh, something I haven't done in a long time. It feels good to laugh and be around someone with a sense of humor. That's gotta be my favorite trait in people. "I don't know what you were doing before you fell in this time rift but after that whole Heartless thing went down I made it back home, cleaned myself up. I was going to the car shop to pick my car up and then I heard you."

"What're you talking about? I didn't call you."

"Well I heard you, you said, 'please come' and then I ended up falling in the time rift and I made it to this world. So this is where you live?"

"I already said that I didn't live here. My world was lost to the Heartless but yours is still Darkness-free," I mention sarcastically as I grip the railing. "So that dude-lady in the blue dress, who is she really?" He burst out laughing, unable to control himself and is nearly in tears. "'K chill it's not that funny."

"Yeah it is!" He wipes away a tear and then retains his seriousness. "That thing you call a dude lady isn't really a person at all. It's a human representation of time itself. Time took that form so that it can talk to us, before I didn't know how you knew it, it but after seeing you freeze time, I think I understand why. Obviously you and Time are related."

"So all this time," at this point I'm willing to believe anything anyone tells me. "No pun intended but all this time it was the essence of time that's been messing with me? Dori's mom-and she and I are not related in any way! _She's been ruining my life all this time_, no pun intended there either. But wait, how do you know her?"

"She met her with Space a couple a months before you and I met. They told me about me being 'the chosen one' and then informed me about someone I had to look out for. I didn't know who it was but it's-most likely you…yeah," he scratches the back of his head. "Not sure who Dori is but Time's sibling is Space and we should be able to find him soon. But tell me, who's Dori?"

"A long ass story that's who," my mood goes to shit when I remember the crazy drama that went down in Grand Palace. He's doing well to stay away from me, I haven't seen him in a long time. "It's not important."

"Yes it is because you're turning red," he obviously points out to my dismay. "Did you guys go out or something?

"What? Ew no! Of course not!" Now that I think about it, what if we did? He is a handsome guy, I'll give him that but I doubt he would wanna date Ms. Zitface. Think about the things we could do together, the beautiful, voluptuous things-eww stop it, you're creeping yourself out. Sheesh, it's all Grey's fault, he asked the question about him. "We're mortal enemies."

"Uh-hah," he snorts, pretending to believe me.

"We are! He's the reason why this is all happening anyway. He's the one who opened the black door of unspeakable evil and had me taken away from my home and the reason I almost died when I got here 'cuz Don wanted my Chaos Emerald but it was only for me so he couldn't use it and the reason why I'm always irritable and the reason I couldn't sleep properly and-"

"Okay woah, woah, I didn't need to hear all that," he backs away and scratches his shoulder.

"Too much?" I ask with my head to my shoes, my face burning with embarrassment and humiliation.

"Too much," decides Grey teasingly. "So you said he was Time's son? That means you better watch out, she must of made him for a reason. He's already been tormenting you, you better be on your guard. Don't be too cautious though, you got me as backup apparently. I'm the one your heart chose."

"My heart has a strange taste in people."

"No it doesn't. Don't worry, I got you."

"Uh-huh. What're you looking at?" Grey gawks at something behind me, his caramel eyes fixed on something.

"Look over there!" he jumps over the railing and runs. I flip around to see what has him so interested and it's a bald man in a robe similar to the one Time was wearing but it's burnt orange. I hop off the ledge and walk down the steps, still red from confiding all that stuff to Grey. I'm sure he's only pretending to care, he's a master of deception, I'll never forget about him making me believe that he was my lost brother, but he was so easy to talk to just two minutes ago. Risa's only good to talk to 'cause she's so quiet and listens to every word I say but Grey's actually talks back.

"He's a master of deception," I remind myself when I meet up with Grey and the _being _called Space. For all I know Grey's using me again to get back to his world without a scratch, once this is all over he's just gonna leave me here to deal with Don by myself. "You said something Miz?"

"Nothing at all, and don't call me that."

J.G.P.


	2. Chapter 2

Space stolidly gazes at Grey and then slowly back at me. Something about him-it gives me a scary feeling but I remember him from when I was electrocuted by the Chaos Emeralds and I ended up in space_. "He's the one you picked?"_

"What?" Grey and me utter simultaneously, exchanging shocked glances. Then I answer timidly, "Y-yeah."

"_Sturdy build, good weapon skills, he will be adequate," _continues Space after touching Grey's head. _"You came here to return to your time-did you meet your future selves?" _Silently we shake our heads. _"Good, though I am sure Time would have seen that coming."_

"Why are we not in our time?" I ask with arms folded.

"_Greetings to you too Mizuki."_

"I'm here too," Grey interrupts coolly, waving two of his fingers and raising both dark eyebrows. Expressionlessly he faces to Grey.

"_Time wanted you to be properly acquainted with Mizuki I see. To answer your question Mizuki, you are no longer in the time you're familiar with because when Time and I clashed momentarily we unintentionally created scratches in random part of your worlds. We haven't had a proper agreement in some time and these create rifts in time and space, the one you fell into brought you this future."_

"Ok I get all that, kinda, but why did Time say it's my fault everything's like this?" I say sadly, hurt that someone can tell me that I brought all this destruction. It's all clearly Don's fault, I didn't bring the Heartless to this world.

"_It is and it is not. Time told me what would happen because of your determination to find your brother but it also because of another factor that has nothing to do with you. A young man who you know of is close to losing his humanity to Dark forces. Dori may or may not have something to do with it, Time hasn't told me."_

"Dori? He knows Don?"

"_He is associated with the Darkness but if you do not stop him and the man of Darkness, this and more destruction will come. Time has predicted a future in which this world and all worlds will end, swallowed up by infinite, powerful Darkness and one future that restores the worlds."_

"Which one is going to happen?" demands Grey nervously.

"_Time cannot tell. When one or two paths of the parallel future are close then not even Time can predict what kind of future will occur." _I feel like vomiting hearing all this talk about worlds in Darkness and stopping Dori and "the man of Darkness". How am I supposed to save everyone from such a future? Wait, this guy must know what happened to Haruki and my mom, and my dad too. I don't know if he's dead or alive either, now my entire family is lost. "Do you know what happened to my parents?"

He lifts his head to the dark sky. "Lost."

"'Lost'?" I repeat to myself, befuddled.

"_Lost-your father is in a place my sight cannot reach. Your mother is lost in a black abyss, she could dead, she could be alive,"_ he answers without a hint of sympathy. My knees become weak and I almost reach out to Grey to hold onto but I stop myself from looking like a stupid little girl. I think Grey is staring at me in the corner of his eye.

"What about going home?" pipes up Grey, keenly aware of the tension in the atmosphere. "And back to our time. Time said you're the key to get back home." He gestures to the ocean; I notice that the water is thick and black like tar. Is that even water, everything really is screwed up here, in this future. Is there some way to stop this future from happening? "The ocean?"

"_I'm pointing to an invisible time rift. It won't bring you back to your time but there's another rift close by that can bring you back to your own worlds and your own time frame," _he explains, turning away from us. He steps inside the time rift, disappearing without a trace.

"Hey wait, what about-what's the matter with you? You look pale," Grey points out worriedly as he grasps my arm to help me up. "I'm half-white, of course I'm pale," I shake off his hand curtly and walk towards the time rift. This version of Metropolis is tranquil and normal, unlike the other one we just left. The streets are populated and no longer broken off, the people aren't preoccupied with Heartless, and not a trace of those things exist here. Grey looks up and smiles to himself. "Nice to see a much more peaceful world. Is this an another future?"

"No, I think this is the future, the future of the future," I affirm. "Excuse me, what day is today?" I ask an old man. He turns to me, wearing his brown fedora, and grins. "Why today is Christmas Eve!"

"Thanks."

"Yeah thank you sir."

"You're welcome. Have a Merry Christmas kids." It is kinda chilly, but other than that Metropolis looks more perfect than it is in the past. Wow, I haven't seen a flying car yet, nothing has really changed. No sign of Mia and Risa here either, I wonder if they made it back home.

"No flying cars here, what a letdown," he reads my mind with a light chuckle. "It'd be nice to stay here you know?"

"Yeah," I reply sullenly, still thinking about what Space said. If my parents are lost then it's up to me to find them! I can't give up because of what Dori says or what Space says-I'm sorry the dark, grim future that I make will just be an obstacle to overcome for when I find my family. Be Ms. Optimistic once again. "Mizuki!" a boy's voice from behind me calls out to me. It sounds a lot like Leather Jacket Guy too, the person I really don't wanna see right now.

"Someone's calling you," says Grey.

"They're probably looking for future me."

"True, but-" suddenly the peaceful Metropolis goes away and is replaced with a nighttime Metropolis and Grey's vanished from side before I can hear the rest of what he had to say. When I take another step, my foot crushes an egg in a bag of spilled groceries, my groceries from before. "I'm back already." Still I feel lonely again without Grey to talk to. He must have made it back to his world by now. Space wasn't kidding about how close the next rift was. While picking up the two bags, the rift that looks like someone took a knife and stabbed the air glimmers as it closes and disappears into the atmosphere. Yeah now they close it. "I wish they could've paid for this."

"I could pay for it." Startled by the man, I drop the groceries again. "Shit! I just got those-aaugh!" Dori of all people would be here, why the hell am I surprised? The person I'm not dying to see has to be the one to show up. "I've never been screamed at as much I have been by you," he says nonchalantly. "I've missed you."

"Get lost!" I turn on my Byakugan eyes and stand offensively. "I've been through too much thanks to your family of weirdos and I'm done being kicked around like a soccer ball."

"The time for 'getting kicked around' is not of nigh. The time for letting you see the past is," he disregards my threat by speaking to me as if I was holding two guns to his head. "I wish our pasts could be different."

"What're you talking about?" But he's being so nice for once, it's cute. No, stop that! That's the second time you said something like that, control your hormones. "My family is wonderful I think. But that's not why I've come, I want to show you what happened many years ago to the ones you hold dear." Do I trust him after my history with this guy? Why did I say history as if we were in a relationship? I'm too tired, that'll be my excuse. Whatever happens to me might be for the good of the future so if I am trapped by him, then why not.

"Alright-"

"I must warn you beforehand that you must not interfere in the past the way you did in the future. I will not let you interfere, understand that."

"Yeah yeah, yeah."

' ' '

Maybe if Grey were here I would be feeling braver but since he's not, I'm gonna act like I know what's going on. Remember, you gotta keep away from Dori because he's one of the reasons the future becomes what it does. I'm getting goose bumps as he holds my wrist firmly and we linger in the blue sky, close enough to reach for the clouds, but his grasp on me keeps from going anywhere. "You can let go me of now."

"We are merely hovering over the scene about to unfold and I cannot let you do that," he states matter-of-factly. "Your emotions might cause problems for the present and future." There are so laws to this time travel thing! If I ever get the hang of it then I'm gonna get rid of all these damn laws and just do what I want. "Look down."

Dropping my head, I gawk at my mom and my brother swooping in from a time rift and something invisible holding them up. "That's them, Haruki and Mom." They're dropped on the rocky ground rudely and three-year old Haruki starts to bawl.

"It's ok baby, stop crying," Mom cuddles Haruki in her arms, trying to soothe the confused baby. "Why did you bring my child into this?" The man in the tangerine robe drops from the air and lands in front of them and in a flash of light, the celestial woman materializes by his side-Space and Time. He was there, he was the one who did it.

"_This is punishment for what you have done," _says Time in that plain, flat tone of hers I'm too familiar with. _"Your crimes against the laws of time and space are too great. We must take back what was given to you."_

"No you can't do that. You can kill me if you want, just leave my children alone please," begs Mom, stroking her hair the way I do when I'm stressed to the limit while still holding Haruki. In the middle of her plea, Space rips Haruki from her arms while he kicks and screams. "No, not him, not my baby." He wipes a violet and soot space portal into existence and carelessly throws the bawling brother in and closes it with another swipe of his hand. _"Evelyn, you were aware of the consequences when we bestowed you with our gifts. It is time to take matters into our own hands."_

"_You could've have given your children a good, safe life but your selfishness will forever taint them." _ Dori has to use to both hands to hold me back the way I'm kicking and howling tearfully. This is my family they're messing with, and how do they have the audacity to look me in the eye and say all those things to me.

"Mizuki I'm doing you this favor," reminds Dori thoughtfully but sternly. "I can end the vision here if you can't control yourself."

"Mom!"

She doesn't hear me, she goes on her knees and lowers her head slowly. The rocks under her dress become soaked with her tears. In perfect sync, Time and Space join their arms together and like a TV screen, snow fizzes beneath us. They raise them dramatically and more TV snow covers the scene about to play in front of us. I'm about to see my mom die before my eyes and Dori can't let me see it? "What're you doing? Stop it."

"It's not me. Time and Space's collision is strong enough to stop time-visitors from seeing what happens. They do not want us to see this vista," explains Dori but I'm too swept in emotion to care about that. When they bring their arms on my mom, the snow completely fizzes and all I can hear is her screaming. Suddenly we're back in Metropolis, right next to my spilled groceries. I go down to my knees, covering my mouth so he doesn't hear me gasp.

"Why-why did you show me that?"

"It would stop you from pursuing something you cannot reach," replies Dori coldly. "I do it because I care about you and your future." I want to spit in his face and tell him that's a damn lie but all I do is cover my mouth to stop myself from purging all over his sandals. Space took my family away and told me they were lost-he's the reason they're lost, maybe even dead at this point. The vomit jumps up my throat but I manage to swallow it back down. Am I really all alone, is there anyone worth saving anymore? Yes, what am I saying? Of course there are.

"Dori. Can you do something else for me?" I ask weakly, getting to my feet. When I lift my head, his face is right in mine but I don't flinch back, we're close enough to kiss. My mind wanders back to Don and his captive Mia and Risa who I haven't seen in days. They're my family now and all I have here-I want them to be okay too. Dori said he cared about me, maybe he does to some extent. "My friends, Mia and Risa, can you help them?"

"Anything for you-"

"Hey you, turn around," some guy orders urgently. Taking a deep breath and getting my composure back, I look up to the rude guy talking to me. "Down here!" It's that red echidna from Angel Island, I've never seen him off the island. "Hey quit barking at me. What the hell do you want?"

"Have you seen Risa?"

"No, in fact not in a couple of days. Why?" the idea of losing someone again that's like family stabs my nerves everywhere. I glance back at Dori to find him gone soundlessly but leaving behind faint traces of violet mist.

"Damn it!" swears Knuckles furiously.

"What's going on?" I ask him straightaway to which he just runs off without dropping an answer. I turn to him running far in the distance. "Hey, what's going on?!"

"Risa…trouble…!" his words fade the farther he goes and finally I can't hear him anymore. Now that there's nobody around-I almost burst into tears. I've been holding them back but now I have to just let them out-no, stop. I slam my hand over my mouth and wipe away the tears before more fall. Later I'll beat myself up for sobbing like a little girl so let's just get back to the hotel already. When I avoid the oncoming car, I get on the pavement and stare up towards the starless sky. It's one o' clock already in the morning, a good night sleep will make me Ms. Optimistic again, I smile to myself thinking of Grey's nickname for me. On the way to the hotel, something shiny next to a garbage can catches my eye. Normally I don't go digging in the trash but nobody's here to see and I'm beating the sleeping hobos to it. I pick up the chunk of a dying green light, examining it carefully. I've never seen something like this before, I wonder why its light is dying? Arms wrap around my legs, knocking me into the garbage bags I tried avoiding when digging the huge rock out.

"I've had enough of people messin' with me!" I snap furiously but gasp in horror when I realize who it is hugging my legs. "Ohmygosh Risa." Abruptly it starts to pour, the finishing touch to the worst day of my life.

J.G.P.

**This one is long, oi I didn't expect that but it just happened like that.**


End file.
